The worldwide hardcopy peripherals (HCP) market saw unit shipments decline 17,6% year on year to 22,3-million units in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker.
Shipment value was also down 12,3% for the same period to $9,7-billion. Manufacturing constraints and logistical issues continued to dampen growth opportunities for most brands through the end of the year.
Notable highlights from the quarter include:
• Most vendors experienced inventory shortfalls in the quarter due to logistical and operational issues, such as production capacity. As a result, nearly all the regional markets saw year on year contractions in 4Q21. Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan and China) (APeJC) recorded the smallest decline (-0,9%) due to a strong performance in the laser segment, specifically the A4 Mono segment. Since pandemic lockdown restrictions have been lifted, overall commercial spending has increased, which strengthened demand in the APeJC region.
• Pantum recorded the best year on year growth among the top five HCP companies, increasing unit shipments 81,3% year over year to nearly 446 000. The company’s shipments for both online and offline sales increased significantly during the quarter as it managed to get sufficient supply. This was due to an increased supply of chips from Apexmic, a chipset manufacturer owned by Ninestar.
| Worldwide Hardcopy Peripherals Market, Unit Shipments, Company Share, and Year-Over-Year Growth, Q4 2021 (based on unit shipments) | |||||
| Companies | 4Q21 Unit Shipments | 4Q21 Market Share | 4Q20 Unit Shipments | 4Q20 Market Share | 4Q21/4Q20 Growth |
| 1. HP Inc. | 8,456,697 | 37.9% | 11,165,715 | 41.2% | -24.3% |
| 2. Canon Group | 4,524,095 | 20.3% | 5,553,398 | 20.5% | -18.5% |
| 3. Epson | 4,389,019 | 19.7% | 4,794,518 | 17.7% | -8.5% |
| 4. Brother | 1,810,098 | 8.1% | 2,244,173 | 8.3% | -19.3% |
| 5. Pantum | 445,744 | 2.0% | 243,482 | 0.9% | +83.1% |
| Others | 2,699,587 | 12.1% | 3,088,669 | 11.4% | -12.6% |
| Total | 22,325,240 | 100.0% | 27,089,955 | 100.0% | -17.6% |
| Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker, February 10, 2021 | |||||